Friday, November 05, 2004

The problem of lifting up the negro in Cuba and Porto Rico is an easier one in one respect, even if it proves more difficult in others. It will be less difficult, because there is the absence of that higher degree of race feeling which exists in many parts of the United States. Both the white Cuban and the white Spaniard have treated the people of African descent, in civil, political, military, and business matters, very much as they have treated others of their own race. Oppression has not cowed and unmanned the Cuban negro in certain respects as it has the American negro. In only a few instances is the color-line drawn. How Americans will treat the negro Cuban, and what will be the tendency of American influences in the matter of the relation of the races, remains an interesting and open question. Certainly it will place this country in an awkward position to have gone to war to free a people from Spanish cruelty, and then as soon as it gets them within its power to treat a large proportion of the population worse than did even Spain herself, simply on account of color. While in the matter of the relation of the races the problem before us in the West Indies is easier, in respect to the industrial, moral, and religious sides it is more difficult. The negroes on these islands are largely an agricultural people, and for this reason, in addition to a higher degree of mental and religious training, they need the same agricultural, mechanical, and domestic training that is fast helping the negroes in our Southern States. Industrial training will not only help them to the ownership of property, habits of thrift and economy, but the acquiring of these elements of strength will go further than anything else in improving the moral and religious condition of the masses, just as has been and is true of my people in the Southern States. With the idea of getting the methods of industrial education pursued at Hampton and Tuskegee permanently and rightly started in Cuba and Porto Rico, a few of the most promising men and women from these islands have been brought to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, and educated with the view of having them return and take the lead in affording industrial training on these islands, where the training can best be given to the masses. The emphasis that I have placed upon an industrial education does not mean that the negro is to be excluded from the higher interests of life, but it does mean that in proportion as the negro gets the foundation,--the useful before the ornamental,--in the same proportion will he accelerate his progress in acquiring those elements which do not pertain so directly to the utilitarian. Phillips Brooks once said, "One generation gathers the material, and the next builds the palaces." Very largely this must be the material-gathering generation of black people, but in due time the palaces will come if we are patient. SIGNS OF PROGRESS AMONG THE NEGROESby Booker T. WashingtonCentury Magazine 59 (1900): 472-478.

HEY GANG:
Didja really think Brophy would ever shut up?

Of course ya didn't!

On Friday, October 22, 2004, Professor Brophy presented a paper entitled The University and the Slaves: Apology and Its Meaning
http://www.ucis.unc.edu/events/assets/State%20Apologies%20Conference/brophy.pdf
at the State Apologies Conference at UNC- Chapel Hill. He appeared along with Pablo de Greiff (International Center for Transitional Justice) "The Role of Apologies in National Reconciliation Processes: On Making Trustworthy Institutions Trusted" and Ralph Wilde (University College, London) “Apologies by the United Nations and the Responsibility of Member States” .

He opened his paper by quoting me word for word! Thank God he didn't attribute the quote to me because I had cautioned him,"Boy, you'd better do one thing. Don't let two words ever come out of your mouth: Robert Register!"

He did, however, quote one of my posts to the CW and I have no problem with that because I wrote:

"In my opinion, Professor Brophy is a advocate for all the forces now waging a war of cultural genocide against Alabama's history and traditions."

Will somebody please tell me why BAMA needs to spill this sort of intellectual pollution on the Earth and feels the need to actually hire wormy academic shitheads http://academicshithead.blogspot.com like Brophy to teach at OUR UNIVERSITY?
BEST,
r http://robertoreg.blogspot.com

Thursday, November 04, 2004



http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

SPOTLIGHT ON ARTHUR CONLEY,YA'LL!!!!

ARTHUR CONLEY'S SHAKE,RATTLE & ROLL- released last Tuesday, October 26, 2004


Monday November 17, 2003
Soul Legend Arthur Conley passed away at age 57.
Memorial Service Saturday, November 22, 2003, de Nederlands Hervormde Kerk, Kerkplein 1 Ruurlo.
Funeral and burial de Algemene Begraafplaats, Kerkhoflaan in Vorden.

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/9229/conley.htm
ARTHUR CONLEY
CD LINER NOTES (1995)
by Harry Young
A southern Soul singer turned international Pop star, Arthur Conley racked up nine Billboard chart entries from 1967 to 1970. Strongly influenced by Sam Cooke and closely associated with Otis Redding, Arthur Conley was an accomplished songwriter, a talented interpreter and a riveting live performer.

Arthur Lee Conley was born January 4, 1946 in McIntosh, GA. In 1958, he joined The Evening Smiles, an otherwise all-female Gospel group that regularly performed on Atlanta's WAOK radio.

In 1963-64, Conley's band, Arthur And The Corvets, released three singles on Bill Lowery's Atlanta-based National Recording Company label.

In late 1964, Conley joined his father in Baltimore, MD and recorded "I'm A Lonely Stranger" for manager / promoter / booking agent Rufus Mitchell's Ru-Jac label.

In 1965, Mitchell passed a copy of the Ru-Jac single to Otis Redding after a concert at the Baltimore Theater. Redding was thoroughly impressed with "I'm A Lonely Stranger" and before long, Conley was summoned to Memphis to re-record the song at Stax Studios. Jim Stewart produced the session with arranging help from Booker T.

At Redding's direction, Conley recorded two singles in Alabama at FAME Studios. Released on Atco-distributed Fame Records in July 1966, the blazing "I Can't Stop (No, No, No)" was written by Dan Penn ("Out Of Left Field") with drummer Roger Hawkins. The 'B' side, "In The Same Old Way," was a brooding ballad composed by Penn with keyboardist Linden Spooner Oldham.
Recorded October 3, 1966, Conley's second FAME single featured "I'm Gonna Forget About You" and "Take Me (Just As I Am)." Ten months after Conley's version, "Take Me (Just As I Am)" became a Top Fifty Billboard Pop item for Solomon Burke (see The Very Best Of Solomon Burke, Rhino R2 72972, 1998).
Contrary to the ghost-written liner notes of the Sweet Soul Music album, Arthur Conley never met Otis Redding during the Jotis and FAME periods. Otis Redding and manager Phil Walden dealt with Arthur Conley through Rufus Mitchell. But when Conley finally did meet Redding in early 1967, the chemistry was undeniable. Conley moved into the Redding camp, prompting a lawsuit from Rufus Mitchell.

As manager and mentor, Redding helped Conley understand business affairs, encouraged his songwriting and gave him a say in repertoire selection. According to Conley, "Otis always asked what I wanted to do. He never did tell me what I had to do. That's what I liked about him."

"Sweet Soul Music," Conley's first Atco single, was recorded at FAME on or slightly before January 20 and certified Gold on June 23, 1967. "Sweet Soul Music" (Billboard #2; Billboard R&B #2; Cash Box #4; Cash Box R&B #1) was a Top Ten record in Canada, England, the Netherlands and The Philippines. "Sweet Soul Music" was Billboard's #17 Pop record of 1967 & #9 R&B 45. The December 30, 1967 Billboard also named Arthur Conley #11 Pop male artist and #18 R&B singles artist.

In a June 1995 interview on the origins of "Sweet Soul Music," Arthur Conley said, "Sam Cooke was a great inspiration for me. I bought all his albums. And 'Yeah Man' was on his Shake album. When I met Otis Redding, I told him I'd like to record 'Yeah Man.' Otis liked it very much as well. So he got on guitar with me and said, Let's change it like so, and we came up with 'spotlight on the artist' and all those kinds of things. But it was originally Sam Cooke. My idea was just to record 'Yeah Man.' But Otis changed it around and retitled it 'Sweet Soul Music.'"
"Sweet Soul Music" paid tribute to Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and Lou Rawls. Otis Redding's name was added to the list at Conley's suggestion. In fact, Conley received composer credit on the record for that contribution alone. But Sam Cooke, the song's true author, was not mentioned in the lyrics or credited as composer, a glaring injustice remedied only after complaints from Kags music chief J.W. Alexander, composer of "Let's Go Steady," the non-LP 'B' side of "Sweet Soul Music."
"Sweet Soul Music," a #1 hit on Detroit's WKNR, was a southern Soul manifesto. The "spotlight" did not shine on Motown artists. Ironically, the song that kept "Sweet Soul Music" from Billboard's top spot, "The Happening" by The Supremes, was Motown's sixteenth #1 hit.
Although Stax guitarist Steve Cropper cited Maxwell House coffee commercials in Gerri Hirshey's Nowhere To Run, "Sweet Soul Music"'s ear-grabbing horn introduction came from Elmer Bernstein's theme from the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven as featured in Marlboro Man TV ads.

Invited by headliner Redding, Arthur Conley joined the March-April 1967 Stax-Volt Revue tour of Europe / Scandinavia with Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, The Mar-Keys & Booker T. and the MGs. Frequently, Conley received second billing. Later in the year, Conley, advertised as the Prince Of Sweet Soul Music, was back in Europe on the "Soul Explosion" tour with Sam and Dave, and Percy Sledge. Conley also appeared on the French LP Rhythm & Blues Panorama (Stax 3006, 1967) with Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, etc.
Arthur Conley was booked in the United States as a mainstream Pop act. For example, when 13,000 fans attended the Big WAYS Birthday concert in Charlotte, NC on June 8, 1967, they saw Arthur Conley, Percy Sledge, Bobby Vee, Robert Parker, The Royal Guardsmen, Mrs. Miller and superstar Lou Christie.

Conley was back at FAME on or slightly before May 17, 1967, recording "Shake, Rattle And Roll," the follow-up to "Sweet Soul Music." Conley's "Shake, Rattle And Roll" (Billboard #31; Billboard R&B #20; Cash Box #47; Cash Box R&B #18) was a cover of Sam Cooke's version of the Big Joe Turner chestnut. "Whole Lotta Woman" (Billboard Pop #73; Cash Box Pop #92), recorded October 3, 1967, was also drawn from the Sam Cooke catalog. In yet another mix-up, some copies of the "Whole Lotta Woman" single incorrectly credited Conley as composer. "Let's Go Steady," "Get Yourself Another Fool" and "They Call The Wind Maria" were also drawn from the Sam Cooke catalog.
Arthur Conley was in Florida when he learned that his friend & protector, Otis Redding, had been killed in a Wisconsin plane crash (December 10, 1967). Conley was devastated. "I just couldn't believe it," he said.
Operating from the Redwal Building, 535 Cotton Ave., Macon, GA 31201, Phil Walden quickly assumed managerial control of Conley's career. But with Redding gone, Conley was increasingly subjected to record company interference and a notable lack of assistance from more experienced Atlantic / Stax artists.
Still, Conley rebounded. On or slightly before February 5, 1968, he went into American Studios, Memphis, with producer Tom Dowd. The pivotal session yielded six tracks on Conley's 1995 Ichiban CD, including "People Sure Act Funny" (Billboard #58; Billboard R&B #17; Cash Box #41; Cash Box R&B #41), "Get Yourself Another Fool," "Run On" (Billboard #115), the emotion-laden tribute "Otis Sleep On" and the stellar Conley original "Put Our Love Together." The highlight of the session was Conley's mind-blowing tribute to Atlanta's Auburn Avenue, "Funky Street" (Billboard #14; Billboard R&B #5; Cash Box #19; Cash Box R&B #10).
As detailed in Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music, on February 6, 1968, The SOUL CLAN (Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Ben E. King and Joe Tex) cut "Soul Meeting" / "That's How It Feels." But Conley claims he was a reluctant participant, adding his vocal to the master tape at the last minute, alone in New York.



On Monday, March 11, 1968, Conley and his seven-piece band began a month-long tour of the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Denmark.
In September 1968, Conley was back in Memphis with Dowd, cutting "Aunt Dora's Love Soul Shack" (Billboard #85; Billboard R&B #41; Cash Box #75; Cash Box R&B #31). "Aunt Dora's Love Soul Shack" spawned Syl Johnson's "Going To The Shack" (1969) & The Temptations' "Psychedelic Shack" (1970).
The Beatles
("white") LP was released in the US on November 25, 1968. On or slightly before December 6, 1968, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd had Arthur Conley cut "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" at FAME. As the liner notes of the More Sweet Soul LP said,
"This tune is part of the beginnings of a new influence in music called 'Rock Steady' that originated in Jamaica. Conley took the song and the beat, added a dash of his special soul treatment and came up with the first 'Soul-Steady' recording."
Many of the musicians from Wilson Pickett's November 27, 1968 "Hey Jude" FAME session, including intrusive lead guitarist Duane Allman, appeared on "Ob-La-Di" (Billboard #51; Billboard R&B #41; Cash Box #74).
On March 1, 1969, Conley performed "Ob-La-Di" on ABC-TV's American Bandstand.
In his final outing with Tom Dowd, Arthur Conley cut "Star Review" at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in July 1969. Cash Box: "Returning to the formula that produced his 'Sweet Soul Music' smash, Arthur Conley turns his booming talent to a dance fan session with powerhouse prospects on the teen & blues circuit."
Allen Toussaint, the song's composer, wrote many of Lee Dorsey's hits, including "Working In The Coal Mine."
Switching to producer Johnny Sandlin, Conley entered Phil Walden's Capricorn Studios, Macon, GA in December 1969. "They Call the Wind Maria," the best known song from the Broadway show Paint Your Wagon, was timely in light of the Fall 1969 film version. "God Bless" (Billboard #107; Billboard R&B #33; Cash Box #91; Cash Box R&B #42) evoked O.C. Smith's hugely successful "Little Green Apples" (1968).
In his final Atco session, October 7, 1970, Conley recorded "Nobody's Fault But Mine" in Miami with future Millie Jackson producer Brad Shapiro and Dave Crawford. The song, which originally appeared on The Immortal Otis Redding LP (1968), was released as the 'B' side of Conley's questionable Belafonte cover "Day-O."
From May 1971 to 1974, Arthur Conley recorded for Phil Walden's Capricorn label.

In the 1970's, Conley resided in England and Belgium. In 1980, he moved to the Netherlands and legally changed his name to "Lee Roberts." (Roberts was his mother's maiden name.) In 1988, Lee Roberts and the Sweaters released the Soulin' LP (Blue Shadow 4703, recorded live in Amsterdam January 6, 1980).
In 1995, Conley's Art-Con Productions boasted nine divisions, including Sweat Records (w/ the Lang-Lang band, vocal by Lee Roberts), Upcoming Artists Records (w/ Attila's excellent version of "Funky Street"), Charity Records, Lee's Disc Shop, Happy Jack Publishing and the New Age Culture Exchange radio station.
"Sweet Soul Music" remains one of the best-loved Soul Classics of the sixties. Rod Stewart, Jose Feliciano, Sam & Dave, and Run D&C have recorded it. Tom Jones and Bruce Springsteen perform it in concert. "Sweet Soul Music" even served as the theme for the 1992 NBC-TV sitcom Rhythm and Blues.
Spotlight on Arthur Conley, y'all
.

Monday, November 01, 2004

http://www.stormloader.com/users/crossroads/index.html
REDEMPTION AT THE CROSSROADS
Perhaps Eric's greatest gift is his ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Although he played on George Harrison's song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", it is another Beatles composition which seems more suited to Clapton's life. In the lyrics for "Hey Jude", Paul McCartney wrote; "Take a sad song and make it better." McCartney penned these words for Julian Lennon, but they could just as easily apply to Clapton. Whatever hardships he may face in his life, Eric always manages to produce a positive outcome. So it was no surprise that he helped to found the Crossroads Centre, an addiction recovery facility on the Caribbean island of Antigua. Despite its lush tropical setting, this center is not reserved for the privileged few. It opened its doors in 1998, helping to treat patients who were suffering from the same addictions which had tormented Clapton years earlier.
To raise additional funding for the center, Eric sold one hundred guitars from his personal collection. This extraordinary event was held at Christie's Auction House in Manhattan on July 24, 1999.


http://www.clapton.ne.jp/christies/christies1.htm
During the course of a few hours, more than $5 million dollars was raised for the facility. One particular guitar was a familiar sight to Clapton fans; a 1956 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster. This instrument was Eric's favorite and he had affectionately dubbed it "Brownie". He had played this guitar on the recording sessions for "Layla", as well as during countless live appearances over the years. At first glance, the instrument may have seemed unimpressive. It was battered and worn, marred with scrapes and chipped paint. But this belied the proud history of the instrument and it seemed to radiate with pure energy. When the auctioneer's gavel fell, this single guitar had fetched $497,000, thereby achieving a new sales record. The previous mark had been held by another Fender Stratocaster, the white model played by Jimi Hendrix during his appearance at Woodstock. Clapton's guitar was purchased by billionaire Paul Allen and is currently displayed at the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle, WA.






http://www.deltahaze.com/30/Kos.html









Sunday, October 31, 2004

HEY GANG:
Wonder if Harpo, Fang, Mark, Smitty and Paul know where all those copies of OTIS on "Where The Action Is" are located.
Maybe Wilson Pickett, Little Richard and Chuck Berry could hook up with Carnival's Holiday Cruise Ship and have an oldies cruise out of Mobile!
Best,
reg http://robertoreg.blogspot.com

http://www.rainbowplanet.com/harpo.html



http://www.paulrevereraiders.com/

Hey folks:
Friday evening, I had a wonderful telephone conversation with my good buddy and partner, Greg Spies. He told me that there is some interest in putting together a dedication of the recently constructed Ellicott's Stone Pavillion and in holding a seminar similar to the one we conducted at Mobile's Government Plaza during the Bicentennial of the U.S. Southern Boundary in April of 1999.
It is difficult for me to express how important a task we have in examining 1805, a portenous year in Alabama History.
In the Spring of 1805, Jefferson was sworn into office for a second time and as the snow began to melt in the Rockies, Lewis and Clark prepared for a journey west of the Missouri. In the summer of 1805, with the aid of Sacajawea, they were able to find the Northwest Passage Jefferson had sent them to discover.
At the same time that Sacajawea was assisting Lewis & Clark in making their monumental discoveries, a 21 year old George Strother Gaines was making his way South to the isolated Choctaw Indian Trading House at St. Stephens. At that time,every acre in what would become the State of Alabama,with the exception of a small portion of land just north of Ellicott's Stone, was in possession of the Indian.All that was about to change. This land that George S. Gaines was moving to on the west bank of the Mobile River was in the possession of U.S. citizens but a universal uneasiness over land titles clouded the future of our state during this pivotal period in Alabama's formative years.

Now is the time for us to sharpen our picture of the events which occurred 200 years ago.
Something happened in early 1805 which would bring some peace of mind to Alabama's anxious land owners. A mechanism to alleviate the uncertainty produced by the Yazoo land frauds, British grants, Spanish grants and Spanish warrants of survey came into being when the U.S. Congress passed the Land Act of 1803. In the Spring of 1805, by putting this body of law into place, the federal government was able to begin to cope with the enormous problems produced by the labyrinth of land claims in what is today Alabama.
THE FIRST TOWNSHIP SURVEY FROM THE ST. STEPHENS MERIDIAN

On March 16, 1805, Isaac Briggs, Surveyor General for Lands South of Tennessee, reported that Gideon Fitz, Principal Deputy Surveyor of the Western Lands District- Territory of Orleans, had begun surveying that land north of Ellicott's Stone that had been cleared of Indian title by The Treaty of Ft. Confederation (1802). Noone knows who selected Ellicott's Stone as the initial point for the St. Stephens Meridian. Ellicott's U.S. Southern Boundary which the stone monumented was used as the baseline. Because these original plats burned in 1827, noone knows who started the St. Stephens Meridian but since the initial surveying began in 1805,and up to the present day, Ellicott's Stone still stands as the point of origin for all surveys in Southeast Mississippi and South Alabama.
Other events which shaped Alabama's formative years occurred in 1805 and could be examined in this proposed seminar:
1) The futile Choctaw negotiations headed by Silas Dinsmoor at St. Stephens in June 1805.
2) July 23, 1805 treaty between the Chickasaws and the U.S. at the agency at Chickasaw Bluffs (present-day Memphis). This cleared Indian title to some of the land in present day Alabama north of the Tennessee River.
3) November 1805 Choctaw treaty which extinguished Indian title 4.5 million acres of their land along the Florida Line to the U.S.
4) The Cherokee treaties at Tellico in October 1805 which ceded the land north of a line between the Duck and Hiwassee Rivers to the U.S. and authorized the right of way for a road from Tellico to Muscle Shoals to the Tombigbee. This also extinguished Indian title to Alabama land north of the Tennessee River.
5) The November 15, 1805 Creek Treaty at Washington which ceded land east of the Ocmulgee and authorized the right of way for the Federal Road to Mobile and New Orleans.
6) The January 7, 1806 treaty which ceded the Cherokee land between the Duck and Tennessee to the U.S. This land included present day Northwest Alabama north of the Tennessee River.

Now is the time for us to examine the assumptions of historians and begin a detailed analysis of the events which secured title for the citizens of this disputed land.
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone and please take a few moments to share your opinion about this endeavor with me.